Is it possible to change the default encoding in notepad? [duplicate]

On windows 7 (x64), the default option, for saving text files in notepad is ANSI. One can select other encoding from the combo box, however, I'd like this option to be the default.

2 Answers

Idea for saving it in UTF-8 by default, haven't found a different encoding way as default.

1. Right click -> New -> Text Document

2. Open it, and do NOT type anything into it.

3. Go to File -> Save As... and choose UTF-8 under Encoding, press Save and overwrite existing file. Close the file.

4. Rename New Text Document.txt to TXTUTF-8.txt

5. Copy TXTUTF-8.txt to C:\WINDOWS\SHELLNEW

6. Go to "Start -> Run..." and type regedit. Press OK.

7. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.txt\ShellNew

8. Right click in the right window -> New -> String Value and rename it to FileName

9. Double click on FileName and put TXTUTF-8.txt into value data field and press OK.

10. Test it: Create new .txt document (Right click -> New -> Text Document). Open it and go to File -> Save As... and see look at the encoding to make sure it defaults to UTF-8.

In windows 7 (perhaps other systems as well) you need to set the system locale - regional settings > administrative tab > change system locale to the language of your choice. This solved my problem of Hebrew fonts not displaying properly in notepad.